Friday, March 1, 2019

Do You Do Security Due Diligence Before A Merger Or Acquisition?

If a thorough cybersecurity audit isn’t a part of your mergers and acquisitions due diligence process, I think it should be. I’m not talking about the kind of halfhearted scan that checks a box for the board of directors. There’s too much at stake to do anything less than a deep examination of all network and endpoint elements that can reveal undetected compromises and lurking threats.

Global mergers and acquisitions activity in the first three quarters of 2018 was valued at $3.3 trillion. That’s a lot of capital in play, and for every deal made, the due diligence process focuses on finances and compliance to ensure that the acquiring party knows as much about the target organization as possible. Due diligence is necessary to set a fair price, protect shareholder interests and establish confidence that the purchase makes sense — or not. Due diligence also gives management a basis from which to establish a strategy for successful business and market integration.